Wednesday August 22

The first sound I heard this evening as I arrived at Morton Bagot church was the sad little bleep my phone gives out when it runs out of charge. That being the case it was probably fortunate that this evening's visit produced no new arrivals. This does not mean that there was nothing of interest though. At the Flashes I immediately found I could hear the "chiff chiff" call of Wood Sandpiper. I eventually found that both birds were still present, but the fact that they were calling constantly leads me to suspect they may be on their way tonight. The flash field is looking damper than ever, with the two flash pools now linked by a series of channels and damp patches in the grass. The Wood Sandpipers were favouring this area, as were at least 22 Common Snipe, about 60 Starlings, and 46 Lapwings. On Monday Matt Wilmott had counted 29 Snipe, but it is quite likely that even this count is only a proportion of the numbers present. Teal numbers have increased, now 19 present. The two Little Grebes were still on the main pool, and I could hear a Little Owl calling from the hedge bordering the flashes. I headed back to my car, logging four calling Chiffchaffs and four Common Whitethroats on the way.